1985 Gruaud Larose Saint Julien

1985 Gruaud Larose Saint Julien

It must have been 6 or 7 years since I tasted this 1985 vintage of Gruaud Larose, in my memory, it tasted slightly harsh and not ready a couple of years ago. I teach you a little secret on how to identify a great Gruaud Larose; if it was produced by Cordier (normally it showed prominently on the label), buy it. Cordier production was really made to age for a long time, and Gruaud Larose was a representative of a long aging wine, it will require at least 30 years to barely be drinkable. If I didn’t remember wrongly, Cordier stopped production of Gruaud Larose in 1990, thereafter the style of Gruaud Larose changed significantly to make the wines more approachable and ready to drink young. Well, I could apprehend the motive, as waiting 30 years was too long for cash strapped chateau operation. The bouquet of this 1985 was stunning, filled with the most elegant smoke and tobacco leaves, easily one of the best bouquet amongst 1985 Bordeaux wines. Content was complex, smooth and creamy, good wines were made to drink easily, and this was definitely the signature of aged Gruaud Larose. Fans of Gruaud Larose really should try either 1981 or 1985 to understand their winemaking style.

23 Jan 2018
CORAVIN PERFECT
For those who doesn’t know what Coravin tool is for, it’s a tool to extract wines without uncorking the bottle. I had this bottle kept away for 4 years after extracting 1/3 of the content. I decided to evaluate whether the content has deteriorated.
The answer was no! The wine remained the same just like 4 years ago! Smoky nose which later turned dry tobacco leaves. The body was very enjoyable, with creamy and meaty but also dry tobacco leaves thereafter. This Coravin tool is amazing!

7 Jul 2014
Structure : Ample, Complex, Consistent, Dense, Length, Rich, Sappy Families of flavor : Animal, Aromatic herbs, Cuir, Exotic fruits, Reglisse, Spices, Tobacco.
Quite heavy tobacco both on the nose & palette. I will prefer to age it a couple more years.